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The Analysis of the Organizational Civic Behavior in the Public Institutions
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ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 190 (2015) 384 – 392
2nd GLOBAL CONFERENCE on PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHES, 28-29, November 2014
The Analysis of The Organizational Civic Behavior in The Public Institutions Floricica Mariana Calina* a
Tomis University from Constanta, str. Cismelei, nr. 2, bl. LA, sc. E, ap. 82, Constanta, 900493, Romania
Abstract Problem statement, The public institutions are organizations that unlike profit institutions do not have many available resources. Among these the human factor represents the most important resource and the efficiency of the public institutions is highly influenced by the developed behavior of the public servants. Purpose of study:1. Identifying the level of the organizational civic behavior in the public institutions;2. Identifying the relation between the organizational civic behavior and the performance in work of the employee;3. Identifying the work satisfaction of the employees from the public institutions. Research methods: The research was based on three surveys that have aimed to identify performance and job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior level. Respondents were instructed to complete the questionnaires appropriately to situations most frequently encountered in everyday life. Findings, To validate the three hypothesis we used independent samples t test for independent samples and correlations between two public institutions (tax and health) of 256 people aged between 28 and 62 years. Conclusions,The study shows an organizational civic behavior above average of the public servants. This is due both to the individual differences of the employees and the other organizational variables that mark the working climate and influence the behaviors adopted by the employees. The degree in which the personnel are satisfied with the work performed, the salary, the relations with the colleagues are reflected in the level of the organizational civic behavior manifested. © 2015The TheAuthors. Authors.Published Published Elsevier © 2015 by by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of Sciencepark Research Organization and Counseling LTD. Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center.
Keywords: civic behavior, professional satisfaction, performance in work, organizational behavior
1. Main text Any human, traditional or modern society has a certain specific social feature, namely a way of distributing the statuses and social roles, the recurrent models of behaving, activated in the inter-human relations.
* Floricica Mariana Calin. Tel.: +40 726 447 755 E-mail address: [email protected]
1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.05.015
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The relatively stable structures of statuses role and social relations, having the role of leading to the answer certain needs of the people in society or fulfilling some social functions, are established as institutions (Vlasceanu, 2003). The public institutions represent the assembly of organized structures, created in the society for the management of goods and public services (Marinescu, 2003). The public institutions, in the bureaucratic meaning that they have today, represent the only way of social-economic organization of the state that can handle the challenges of modernity (the big number of the population, the diversity and complexity of the human needs that have to be satisfied). A public institution „sells" goods and services such as: health services, education, culture, country defense, etc. the object of a public institution is serving the public interest (Marinescu, 2003, p. 10). In the reality of the actual society, characterized by transitory and incertitude, the only way to survive of the organizations is the efficiency of public institutions, as all the organizations try to reach this desideratum, not the only, but definitely the most important, by a multitude of maneuvers consisting in manipulating the organizational, psychosorganizational and psychological micro-realities, that intertwine and generate the organizational phenomenon. The civic behavior and the organizational climate are two of the psychological phenomena that draw the attention of the specialists, the interest for them being generated both by theoretical considerations and the attempt for the clarification and unitary definition of the constructs, and also by the practical considerations, by these being understood the drawing of instruments for measuring the psychological realities in questions, keeping into account the cultural differences, for their identifying, quantifying and manipulation so that they contribute to the full extent at the improvement of the performances of the organizations. The public institutions are organizations that unlike the profit organizations do not have many resources at their disposal. Among these the human factor represents the most important resource and the efficiency of the public institutions is highly influenced by the developed behavior of the public servants within the organization. From the psychological perspective, Zlate (2004, p.38) defines the organizational behavior as the assembly of adaptive reactions of the individual or the group. The global manifestations of the psychical individual activity or of the grouporganization. These reactions and manifestations are either directly noticeable, or indirectly deduced. In both cases they may be influenced and guided. Thus the organizational behavior, the author pints out, has a double quality: as effect of the functionality and structure of the organization; as cause of some organizational modifications. Though in both situations it concomitantly affects the individual and the organization in its assembly. In the wide range of the behavior of individuals at their working place, there are distinguished the behaviors that although do not make the direct object of the task stated in the job description, it was proved that they influence a lot the performance of the individual, and by this, the efficiency of the organization. Behaviors such as initiative, altruism, scrupulosity are included in what theoreticians defined as civic organizational behavior (CCO). The term known under the name of "the good soldier syndrome ", was launched in the specialized literature in 1980, but it was found a complete expression in 1988, together with the appearance of the paper of Organ, Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome (Zlate, 2004, p. 68). The author mentions that besides having a pathological connotation, generally specific to the term of „syndrome", the collocation „the good soldier syndrome" focuses on the idea of individual behavior strongly implemented in specific contents of the attachment and even personal identification of the employee with the organization, such as a good soldier. Initially overlooked by the assessment criteria and instruments of the individual results, this form of behavior (CCO) was underlined in different studies. Although initially the concept (as well as those similar to it, such as .pro-social behavior or „extra role behavior") did not have a big impact, after 1993 the number of studies published having as subject the organizational civic behavior highly increased. Moreover, these behaviors were brought in the attention of many domains and subjects: organizational psychology, the management of human resources, marketing, strategic management, military psychology. A common theme of these studies is the attempt to identify that work behavior that contributes on long term at the efficiency of the organization, but which is overlooked by the definitions and instruments for measuring the performance in work. Organ (1983) defines the organizational civic behavior as the individual behavior that is voluntary without being directly or explicitly rewarded by the systems of formal rewards and that in its assembly sustains the efficient functioning of the organization. Being voluntary, we have in view that this behavior is not the express requirement of the account of the job, such as the very specific conditions of the employee’s agreement with the organization; this behavior is rather an issue of personal choice that is why its lack generally couldn’t be considered as punished. Going over the articles and researches existent in the specialized literature regarding the organizational civic behavior, there stands out the idea of a conceptual non-homogeneity regarding both the dimensions that come under the structure CCO, and their number. The cultural differences determined theoretical conceptual different models, even within
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the same culture (American) being mentioned almost 30 potential forms of CCO. Recent studies (Podsacoff et al., 2000, after Tataru, 2003) certify the fact that although the cultural differences are unanimously recognized, the structure of the organizational civic behavior is found in the following seven themes or dimensions: Altruism, Fair-play, Organizational Loyalty, Organizational Conformism, Individual initiative, Civism and personal development, as it follows: Altruism (helping behavior) was identified as an important form of organizational civic behavior by all those who wrote studies in this domain. This type of behavior implies the help voluntarily given to the colleagues, as well as the attempt to prevent the occurrence of problems at work. Fair-play (sportsmanship) is a form of organizational civic behavior that received little attention in the specialized literature. Organ (1983) defines fair-play as representing the „tendency to tolerate the inevitable inconveniences and restrictions determined by work without complaining ". Podsakoff extends this definition including a series of behaviors such as: „the participants maintain a positive attitude even when the things do not work as they were supposed to work, they do not feel offended when their suggestions are not followed, they are ready to sacrifice their personal interest for the sake of the working group ". Loyalty is a dimension that suppose the promoting of the organization outwardly, its protection and defense against the external threats and the commitment to the towards the organization even in the moments less pleasant. The organizational conformism (named „scrupulosity" by Organ, 1988; „generalized behavioral compliance", by Smith et al., 1983, or „obedience", by Graham, 1991 after Tataru, 2003) is the dimension that seems to identify the internalization and acceptance of rules, regulations and procedures of the organization, their compliance and application with scrupulosity, even when the members of the organization know that nobody observes or monitors them. This type of behavior is regarded as a form of organizational civic behavior, as, although it is expected that everybody should permanently comply with the rules, regulations and procedures of the company, many employees merely do not comply with it. The individual initiative – includes voluntary documents of creativity and innovation meant to improve the performance of someone or of the entire organization, the perseveration with enthusiasm for accomplishing the work tasks, the volunteering for assuming some new responsibilities and the encouragement for the others to do the same thing. All these behaviors have in common that fact that they go beyond the requirements of the job. Civism represents the interest towards the organization at a macro-level or commitment towards the organization as a whole. This is expressed by: the wish to actively participate to its administration (for instance, attending the meetings, expressing some opinions about the strategy that the company should follow, etc), the monitoring of the environment for identifying the threats and opportunities, following the interest of the organization, even with bigger personal costs. The personal development is the key-dimension of the organizational civic behavior. It includes voluntary behaviors of the employees directed towards the improvement of own knowledge, skills and abilities. The presence in an organization of the organizational civic behavior, identified as a variable that influences both the satisfaction and the results of the work, has a big importance, as the entire range of behaviors that accompany the compulsory behaviors specified in the job description, influence positively the psycho-social climate contributing by this at the good movement of the activity in any sector of work. The defining characteristics of this type of behavior are: > The behavior is voluntary – it is not included in the job description; > The behavior is spontaneous – it is not ordered or suggested by anyone; > The behavior contribute to the organizational efficiency – it is extended beyond the attitude towards the work colleagues; > It is unlikely to be remarked and rewarded by the system for assessing the performance especially due to the fact that it is not included in the job description; The determinants of the organizational civic behavior are: individual characteristics (employee’s personality, age, sex, professional training),the characteristics of the work task (its type, degree of structuring), the characteristics of the organization (the form of organization, the purpose of organization, the type of services offered, the dimension, organizational structure, the culture and the organizational climate, the communication networks, etc) and the leader’s characteristics (features of personality, qualities and competencies, style of leadership adopted, the professional experience, knowledge and level of training, his attitude towards responsibilities, values, beliefs, etc). The effects of the organizational civic behavior on organizations are: the increase of productivity of the members of work teams, the increase of productivity of the managers, the release of some resources that can be used for other productive purposes, the reduction of the need to allocate resources for the activities of maintain the group climate, the coordination of the activities of the members of the work teams and the teams among them, the improvement of the
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capacity of the organization for keeping the best employees, the increase of the stability of the organization’s performance, the increase of the capacity of the organization to efficiently adjust at the environmental changes. All these lead to the conclusion that adopting an organizational civic behavior by all the employees of an organization, it is influenced in a high degree by all the organizational variables (the individual characteristics of the employees, the characteristics of the work task, the characteristics of the organization, the leader’s characteristics) and, at its turn differently influence the phenomena that take place in an organization (the employees’ satisfaction, the individual performance and the performance of the entire organization, the working climate, the management of the organization, etc). Another fundamental concept in the domain of the organizational psychology which is in the headlines and which, by the effects that it produces in situated in individual or collective plan, which has an important role in the activity and efficiency of the working groups, is represented by the organizational climate. This is considered by the majority of the specialists a key-phenomenon in understanding the dynamic of the micro-groups due to the fact that at the level of the climate are found, in a syntactic form, the assembly of the subjective feelings of the members of the organization, generated in the context of the group life, but also due to the function that the climate has in the mechanism of internal adjustment of the organization. In the organizational psychology and in the managerial psychology there are more definitions of the climate. We consider to be representative the one given by Cristea (1984) which defines the organizational climate as being „a superior level of integrating the internal and external, objective and subjective factors that are determinant for the group and that generate a relative stabilized psychical disposition, generalized at the level of the members of the respective group". In the public institutions the organizational climate gains particular bonds; the existence of a positive climate depending on the understanding of the norms of the public institutions, the „reasoning" of the exigency, the need of the unit of action, the cohesion and solidarity, and last but not least, the manager’s style of administrating. In other words, the organizational climate is characterized by the nature of the relations among the individuals and organization and the relations between superiors and subordinates. These relations are conditioned by the organizational purposes and objectives, the formal structure and the management style, the managerial process and the behavior. The characteristics of the organizational climate are: • The synthetic character of the climate, in the regard that it represents a result of an assembly of internal and external, objective and subjective factors that act in a given situation and that are significant for the group in question; • The relative stability and independence based on the factors that generated it. A certain type of climate is not developed immediately after the triggering of some determinant factors, and it not easily modified, either, in case of insignificant variation or disappearance of short time of some of these factors. • the generalized character at the level of the respective group, even if the attitude of some of the group’s members based on some aspects that contribute at the generating of the climate may be different. The determinant factors of organizational climate are: -Physical-material – the physical and material conditions, the context of developing the activity, etc; -social – that regard the general social frames, the way and relations of production, the legal, political and cultural system, etc; -psycho-social – resulted from the interaction of the members of the group or between these and other individuals outside the group, with whom they get in contact in the context of the activity; -psychical – consisting in the psychical characteristics of the member of the group that define their personality. The action of these factors is most of the time real, but may be evoked as imminent. But in both cases, Cristea (2000) sustained, it is necessary that one or another from these real or invoked factors to get a certain significance for the group as a whole, so that it could influence in a way or another, the psycho-social climate; the same factor may influence or not the climate or may affect in different ways the profile of the group climate, based on the significance that the members of the respective group award to it. In the same time there must exist the relative stabilized circumstances based on which the psycho-social climate of the group may develop. As for the determinant factors of the group climate, the specialized literature has many definitions more or less ample but that have a common element for all the definitions presented: the climate is a resultant of all the factors that act on the working group and that determines the accomplishing of an active and responsible working collective. The conditions of making some active and responsible working collectives are: • individual conditions – a certain professional and moral homogeneity of the members of the group is a necessary condition; big differences in the level of professional training among the members of the collective generate difficulties in accomplishing an increased cohesion. The most important aspect is the degree of internalization of the general objectives by each member. The development of a collecting working environment cannot take place f there are differences from the
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point of view of work motivation. If some members of the collective „underwork", while the others work, the cohesion of the group is badly compromised, being triggered centrifugal forces, the preference for the individual work, nonparticipative attitudes. Finally, the most important is the attitude in the mutual relations. Respect,esteem for the colleagues, friendships represent the basic human condition of a proper collective. • organizational – a homogenous working collective, with positive orientation towards work can only be found within a rational, non-bureaucratic organization of work. The ability of leading the organization for formulating clear, rational purposes, acceptable for the group represents a decisive factor and the type of general management from the organization and especially of the group represents an essential factor. The remuneration and promotion system, if improperly made, may generate competition, conflicts, leading to demoralization and counterproductive behaviors. One of the most important organizational factors is the relation between the objectives of the organization and the general interests of the collectivity. • cultural – the collective work needs cultural premises: the existence of a culture of participation. By the culture of participation is understood the totality of knowledge and skills to act in a collective context, to establish cooperation relations with the others, the ability to formulate and sustain the point of view, to communicate with the others and make the consensus, after Zamfir et al. (1982) The dimensions of the organizational climate are: • the socio-affective dimension – reflects the degree of socio-affective integration of the members of the group, the degree in which the group as a system generates at its members the affective acceptance based on which it is developed the group cohesion; • the motivational-attitudinal dimension – includes the following categories of factors: interpersonal attitudes, the attitude towards the group and the activity developed by the members of the group, the degree of congruence of the interests and needs of the members of the group, the professional satisfaction; • the cognitive-axiological dimension – includes factors that reflect the following aspects: the interpersonal communication, the degree of interpersonal knowledge, the degree of convergence and compatibility of opinions, beliefs and conceptions of the members of the group, the degree of drawing and functioning of the norms of the group; • the instrumental-executive dimension – includes the factors that refer to the conditions and means of accomplishing the task of the group (the functional relations between the members of the group, the degree of coparticipation at the accomplishment of the task, the management style and the competence of the formal leader, the objective conditions in which the activity is developed, the external coordination of the group for fulfilling the task, the number of members based on the objective requirements of the task, intra/intergroup conflicts generated in the context of the activity of accomplishing the task); • the structural dimension – refers to the factors that reflect some aspects related to the structure and human composition of the group (the average age of the members of the group, the degree of homogeneity of the general training, the percentage between the number of men and women, social environment they come from, the social position of the members of the group and those close to them); • the projective-anticipative dimension – implies an assembly of factors that in ordinary conditions (of stability of the group) have a decreased weight in determining the group climate. Though, in the events that imply a certain incertitude regarding the possibility of accomplishing the task, the future conditions of the activity, or even the existence of the group, the weight of these factors increases considerably, determining in the plan of subjective feelings of the members of the group what generally is known as „moral of the group". These factors are: the perspective of the group and implicitly of its members; the existence or appearance of some statuses of incertitude, anxiety, tensional expectations, etc, the anticipation of the results that can be obtained by the group in a certain problematic context and the functional cohesiveness of the group. Starting from the importance that we consider that the two organizational variables have, namely the organizational civic behavior and the working climate, at the level of each organizations, much more in a public institution where the human factor represents the main resource, I initiated the present research on a number of 256 subjects, servants of two public institutions, local authorities in the sanitary domain (Institution 1) and fiscal (Institution 2), with structures and activities based on operational compartments, that perform the basic activities of the respective institution (they follow the implementation of the national programs at local level, the compliance of the legislation in the domain, analyze, control, sanction the state and private units that violate the sanitary/fiscal norms) and the functional compartments, that perform activities similar to the first (communication and informatics, human resources, the continuous training of the personnel, the statistic and assessment analysis of the activity of the institutions). The subjects are among the public servants employed in execution positions, class I and II (class I- higher education studies; class II – high school studies), all
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definitive servants (with more than 1 year seniority in the position), with ages between 26 and 58 years old in the first institution (average=38.03; standard deviation = 10.20) and between 28 and 62 years old in the second institution (average = 36,74; standard deviation = 12,76). At random the subjects were distributed in 4 groups, as it follows: - group I – public servants in operational compartments, 32 higher education studies, 32 high school studies- Institution 1; - group II - public servants in functional compartments, 32 higher education studies, 32 high school studies- Institution 1; -group III- public servants in operational compartments, 32 higher education studies 32 high school studiesInstitution 2; -group IV - public servants in functional compartments, 32 higher education studies, 32 high school studies - Institution 2; The questionnaires were individually distributed to the subjects, the training being made both verbally and in writing. The participants were asked to specify the personal identification data (surname, first name, age, schooling level, institution, the compartment in which they work). In the present study we suggested to cover the following objectives. 1. Identifying the level of the organizational civic behavior in the public institutions; 2. Identifying the relation between the organizational civic behavior and the performance in work of the employee; 3. Identifying the work satisfaction of the employees from the public institutions. In our approach we started from the following hypotheses. 1. It is presumed that there are significant differences in the level of organizational civic behavior manifested by the employees of the public institutions; 2. It is presumed that the employees that manifest a higher degree of the organizational civic behavior are considered to have better performance by their direct chiefs; 3. It is presumed that the level of the organizational civic behavior manifested by the public servants is directly influences by their satisfaction in work. For fulfilling the objectives of the research there were administrated the subjects that include the considered sample three instruments for measuring the organizational variables had in view, namely: the questionnaire of organizational civic behavior (CCO) formed of 28 items in order to measure the level of manifesting the CCO under all its seven forms; for the identification of the relation between the organizational civic behavior and the performance in work of the employees, initially it was administrated for the entire sample of public servants the measuring scale of the individual professional performance (SMPPI) of each employee; this scale includes 15 items and it is administrated to the public servants with managing positions who were asked top asses their subordinates. For identifying the satisfaction in work of the servants from the public institutions it was administrated to the entire sample of public servants the questionnaire „Satisfaction in work" instrument developed by Ticu (2004, p. 285), which contains 32 items that measure 4 factors: Remuneration and promotion, Management and interpersonal relations, Organization/communication and the factor General satisfaction. For verifying the validity of the hypotheses of researching it was proceeded at the statistic calculation of the differences between the grade point average of the subjects obtained at the applied questionnaires and at the accomplishing of the correlations between the scores obtained. The results of the study performed prove that the public manifest the organizational civic behavior at a level beyond average, 59,78%. Although the employees of the public organizations, the institutions of the states from the sanitary and fiscal domain, in our research, adopt behaviors of CCO type in a differentiated measure. Thus we obtained t=2,913 at a significance threshold p=0,001 in the regard that the employees from the fiscal institution manifest a CCO bigger than those from the sanitary institution. This fact is owed both to the individual differences of the employees and the other organizational variables that mark the working climate that at its turn influences the behaviors adopted by employees. The degree in which the personnel is satisfied with the work performed, by the working conditions, the working relations, salary, management, is reflected in the organizational civic behavior that they manifest.
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80 70 60 50 40 30 20
Institution 1
10
Institution 2
0
Figure 1. Comparative representation of the results obtained on each dimension of the organizational civic behavior in the two institutions.
The fact that the intensity of the positive working climate is higher in the institution from the fiscal domain prove that its employees have patterns of observing and understanding the life of the organization, although its restrictions are the same as in the institution from the sanitary domain, which mark the organizational climate: the organizational structure, the size, the profile of the activity, the nature of work, the personality of the human factor and especially of the leaders, the way of taking decisions and the management style practiced, the economic conditions and the efficiency degree, the trade union, the informational system and especially the communication between its components, organizational and management methods Table 1. The table of the correlations between the organizational civic behavior and the measuring scale of the individual professional performance in the public institutions Correlations
Correlations
CCO_I1
CCO_I1
SMPPI_I1
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I1 ,782** ,000
128 ,782**
CCO_I2
128 1
,000 128
CCO_I2
SMPPI_I2 128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I2 ,814** ,000
128 ,814**
128 1
,000 128
128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
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The high correlations between the level of manifesting the organizational civic behavior and the individual professional performance (Table no. 1) show that their level of satisfaction and the individual professional performance with which the employees are credited by their superior lead to a high CCO. The public servants with higher education studies from both institutions register the highest scores, which indicate a bigger capacity of mobilization of the psycho-physical resources of them, in the context of some problematic situations, based on the anticipated appreciation of the own forces and possibility to obtain the expected result. The servants with higher education studies have bigger performance, possess the ability to acquire and interpret a bigger volume of information, to select the essential aspects for the analyzed domain, to communicate, develop activities for fulfilling the work tasks without soliciting coordination. These subjects also perceive in a greater extent the clarity of the role, the freedom of self-expressing, an important individual contribution at fulfilling the purposes and objectives of the organization from which they take part, a less rigid management, and correctitude in the received acknowledgment, challenges at the working place. In order to perceive a positive climate, there are differences between the servants of the same institution but they are insignificant, due to the fact that a working climate means the assembly of the collective perceptions and the emotional feelings existent within the organization. It expresses the feelings generated by the confrontation between the expectations of the employees and the working and life conditions that the organization offers and consists in a collective psychological status, a generalized group phenomenon, objectivized in the internal human ambience of the organization. Having in view the factors of the organizational climate that influences the level of manifestation of CCO by the employees of the public organizations, they all have a significant contribution but the clarity of the task is really important, the working relations and the support perceived. It seems that a warm climate, based on mutual trust, clear tasks and efficient support are the most important elements so that the public servants to be engaged in behaviors of CCO type. Table 2 . The table of the correlations between the organizational civic behavior and the satisfaction at work in the public institutions. Correlations
Correlations
CCO_I1
CCO_I1
SMPPI_I1
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I1 ,822** ,000
128 ,822**
CCO_I2
128 1
,000 128
CCO_I2
SMPPI_I2 128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I2 ,894** ,000
128 ,894**
128 1
,000 128
128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The public servants from the financial organization have a bigger level of satisfaction towards the job which induces a higher degree of the level of behaviors of CCO type. It is noticed that CCO is the result of the perception by the employee of the treatment that is applied as being proper, as well as of the correctitude of the practices and organizational policies that influence the satisfaction for work of the employee. Therefore, the different judgments related to the work colleagues, the management of the institution, the opportunities of promotion, the salary and work conditions are closely related to the appearance of CCO. The simple increase of the employees’ satisfaction, may not determine them to work more efficiently but represents a major factor which, together with the other organizational variables (management style, communication, group cohesion, etc.) and individual (personality features), contribute to the establishment of a positive work climate that forms, at its turn, a premise for manifesting the CCO. The results obtained after the statistic analysis performed confirmed work hypotheses and contributed to reaching the objectives of the research.
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2. Conclusions The present research highlighted that the public servants from the operational compartments of the public institutions, both those with higher education studies and those with high school studies adopt in a bigger extent behaviors of CCO type. This shows that these sectors of the public institutions, from a domain or another, in which the tasks and responsibilities are diversified, imply the contact with persons of different categories, either create proper conditions for the development of the personality of the employees, so that they acquire social competences necessary for the acquiring of the „art to live among persons" and behaviors as altruism, fair-play, scrupulosity, or „draw and maintain" servants with features of personality that allow the adopting of behaviors of CCO type. The acknowledgment of the merits, the individual professional performances of the employees is an important factor that contributes to the manifestation of the organizational civic behavior, significantly being correlated with the CCO dimensions, which proves the motivational potential that this acknowledgment has. The employees that manifest in a bigger extent the organizational civic behavior are more appreciated by superiors. It seems that although the CCO type behaviors are not expressly specified in the job description, which basically represents the basis of an assessment, their manifestation has a positive effect on the management factors from the organization, which reward those employees who adopt these behaviors, giving them better assessments of the performance, according to the principle of reciprocity. We consider that our paper represents a starting point for ulterior researches in order to fill the methodological gap regarding the study of CCO on the Romanian people, and in the same time to represent a warning for the managers of the public institutions. The restructuration and reorganizations that take place at the level of these institutions should start with the reevaluation of the concept regarding the management of human resources, namely focusing on people, the human personality, individuality, personal responsibilities, inter-appreciation. The focus should be on the capitalization of all the human potentialities, by a psychological approach on the human personality, but also from a psycho-social perspective that considers the individual an active member of the organization who interacts with the others in the working process. The public servants should not be considered simple products of the environment in which they develop their activity, but active, creative agents, who have the power and permission to change the environment, to produce it. From this perspective, the public servants, being the most important resources of the organization they belong to, should be fully valued by it, in the same time being psychologically protected and assisted. References Bateman, T.S., Organ, D.W., (1983), Job satisfaction and the good soldier, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 587-595, New York Cristea, D., (2000), Treaty of social psychology, Pro Transilvania Press, Bucuresti Marinescu, P., (2003), Management of public institutions, ASE Press, Bucuresti Tataru, F., (2003), The organizational civic behavior – between the personality factors and the satisfaction at work, in the Magazine of organizational psychology, vol. III, no. 3-4, pp. 48-64, Polirom Press, Iasi Tataru, F., Tataru, R., (2003), The syndrome of the good soldier: organizational civic behavior, in the Magazine of organizational psychology, vol. III, no. 1-2, pp. 55-67, Polirom Press, Iasi Ticu, C., (2004), The psychological assessment of personnel, Polirom Press, Iasi Vlasceanu, M., (2003), Organizations and organizational behavior, Polirom Press, Iasi Zamfir, C., Filipescu, I., (1982), Industrial sociology. Course and exercises for the seminar, Didactic and Pedagogical Press, Bucuresti Zlate, M., (2004), Leadership and management, Polirom Press, Iasi Zlate, M., (2004), Treaty of organizational-managerial psychology, vol. I, Polirom Press, Iasi
ScienceDirect Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 190 (2015) 384 – 392
2nd GLOBAL CONFERENCE on PSYCHOLOGY RESEARCHES, 28-29, November 2014
The Analysis of The Organizational Civic Behavior in The Public Institutions Floricica Mariana Calina* a
Tomis University from Constanta, str. Cismelei, nr. 2, bl. LA, sc. E, ap. 82, Constanta, 900493, Romania
Abstract Problem statement, The public institutions are organizations that unlike profit institutions do not have many available resources. Among these the human factor represents the most important resource and the efficiency of the public institutions is highly influenced by the developed behavior of the public servants. Purpose of study:1. Identifying the level of the organizational civic behavior in the public institutions;2. Identifying the relation between the organizational civic behavior and the performance in work of the employee;3. Identifying the work satisfaction of the employees from the public institutions. Research methods: The research was based on three surveys that have aimed to identify performance and job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior level. Respondents were instructed to complete the questionnaires appropriately to situations most frequently encountered in everyday life. Findings, To validate the three hypothesis we used independent samples t test for independent samples and correlations between two public institutions (tax and health) of 256 people aged between 28 and 62 years. Conclusions,The study shows an organizational civic behavior above average of the public servants. This is due both to the individual differences of the employees and the other organizational variables that mark the working climate and influence the behaviors adopted by the employees. The degree in which the personnel are satisfied with the work performed, the salary, the relations with the colleagues are reflected in the level of the organizational civic behavior manifested. © 2015The TheAuthors. Authors.Published Published Elsevier © 2015 by by Elsevier Ltd.Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of Sciencepark Research Organization and Counseling LTD. Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center.
Keywords: civic behavior, professional satisfaction, performance in work, organizational behavior
1. Main text Any human, traditional or modern society has a certain specific social feature, namely a way of distributing the statuses and social roles, the recurrent models of behaving, activated in the inter-human relations.
* Floricica Mariana Calin. Tel.: +40 726 447 755 E-mail address: [email protected]
1877-0428 © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Research and Education Center. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.05.015
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The relatively stable structures of statuses role and social relations, having the role of leading to the answer certain needs of the people in society or fulfilling some social functions, are established as institutions (Vlasceanu, 2003). The public institutions represent the assembly of organized structures, created in the society for the management of goods and public services (Marinescu, 2003). The public institutions, in the bureaucratic meaning that they have today, represent the only way of social-economic organization of the state that can handle the challenges of modernity (the big number of the population, the diversity and complexity of the human needs that have to be satisfied). A public institution „sells" goods and services such as: health services, education, culture, country defense, etc. the object of a public institution is serving the public interest (Marinescu, 2003, p. 10). In the reality of the actual society, characterized by transitory and incertitude, the only way to survive of the organizations is the efficiency of public institutions, as all the organizations try to reach this desideratum, not the only, but definitely the most important, by a multitude of maneuvers consisting in manipulating the organizational, psychosorganizational and psychological micro-realities, that intertwine and generate the organizational phenomenon. The civic behavior and the organizational climate are two of the psychological phenomena that draw the attention of the specialists, the interest for them being generated both by theoretical considerations and the attempt for the clarification and unitary definition of the constructs, and also by the practical considerations, by these being understood the drawing of instruments for measuring the psychological realities in questions, keeping into account the cultural differences, for their identifying, quantifying and manipulation so that they contribute to the full extent at the improvement of the performances of the organizations. The public institutions are organizations that unlike the profit organizations do not have many resources at their disposal. Among these the human factor represents the most important resource and the efficiency of the public institutions is highly influenced by the developed behavior of the public servants within the organization. From the psychological perspective, Zlate (2004, p.38) defines the organizational behavior as the assembly of adaptive reactions of the individual or the group. The global manifestations of the psychical individual activity or of the grouporganization. These reactions and manifestations are either directly noticeable, or indirectly deduced. In both cases they may be influenced and guided. Thus the organizational behavior, the author pints out, has a double quality: as effect of the functionality and structure of the organization; as cause of some organizational modifications. Though in both situations it concomitantly affects the individual and the organization in its assembly. In the wide range of the behavior of individuals at their working place, there are distinguished the behaviors that although do not make the direct object of the task stated in the job description, it was proved that they influence a lot the performance of the individual, and by this, the efficiency of the organization. Behaviors such as initiative, altruism, scrupulosity are included in what theoreticians defined as civic organizational behavior (CCO). The term known under the name of "the good soldier syndrome ", was launched in the specialized literature in 1980, but it was found a complete expression in 1988, together with the appearance of the paper of Organ, Organizational citizenship behavior: The good soldier syndrome (Zlate, 2004, p. 68). The author mentions that besides having a pathological connotation, generally specific to the term of „syndrome", the collocation „the good soldier syndrome" focuses on the idea of individual behavior strongly implemented in specific contents of the attachment and even personal identification of the employee with the organization, such as a good soldier. Initially overlooked by the assessment criteria and instruments of the individual results, this form of behavior (CCO) was underlined in different studies. Although initially the concept (as well as those similar to it, such as .pro-social behavior or „extra role behavior") did not have a big impact, after 1993 the number of studies published having as subject the organizational civic behavior highly increased. Moreover, these behaviors were brought in the attention of many domains and subjects: organizational psychology, the management of human resources, marketing, strategic management, military psychology. A common theme of these studies is the attempt to identify that work behavior that contributes on long term at the efficiency of the organization, but which is overlooked by the definitions and instruments for measuring the performance in work. Organ (1983) defines the organizational civic behavior as the individual behavior that is voluntary without being directly or explicitly rewarded by the systems of formal rewards and that in its assembly sustains the efficient functioning of the organization. Being voluntary, we have in view that this behavior is not the express requirement of the account of the job, such as the very specific conditions of the employee’s agreement with the organization; this behavior is rather an issue of personal choice that is why its lack generally couldn’t be considered as punished. Going over the articles and researches existent in the specialized literature regarding the organizational civic behavior, there stands out the idea of a conceptual non-homogeneity regarding both the dimensions that come under the structure CCO, and their number. The cultural differences determined theoretical conceptual different models, even within
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the same culture (American) being mentioned almost 30 potential forms of CCO. Recent studies (Podsacoff et al., 2000, after Tataru, 2003) certify the fact that although the cultural differences are unanimously recognized, the structure of the organizational civic behavior is found in the following seven themes or dimensions: Altruism, Fair-play, Organizational Loyalty, Organizational Conformism, Individual initiative, Civism and personal development, as it follows: Altruism (helping behavior) was identified as an important form of organizational civic behavior by all those who wrote studies in this domain. This type of behavior implies the help voluntarily given to the colleagues, as well as the attempt to prevent the occurrence of problems at work. Fair-play (sportsmanship) is a form of organizational civic behavior that received little attention in the specialized literature. Organ (1983) defines fair-play as representing the „tendency to tolerate the inevitable inconveniences and restrictions determined by work without complaining ". Podsakoff extends this definition including a series of behaviors such as: „the participants maintain a positive attitude even when the things do not work as they were supposed to work, they do not feel offended when their suggestions are not followed, they are ready to sacrifice their personal interest for the sake of the working group ". Loyalty is a dimension that suppose the promoting of the organization outwardly, its protection and defense against the external threats and the commitment to the towards the organization even in the moments less pleasant. The organizational conformism (named „scrupulosity" by Organ, 1988; „generalized behavioral compliance", by Smith et al., 1983, or „obedience", by Graham, 1991 after Tataru, 2003) is the dimension that seems to identify the internalization and acceptance of rules, regulations and procedures of the organization, their compliance and application with scrupulosity, even when the members of the organization know that nobody observes or monitors them. This type of behavior is regarded as a form of organizational civic behavior, as, although it is expected that everybody should permanently comply with the rules, regulations and procedures of the company, many employees merely do not comply with it. The individual initiative – includes voluntary documents of creativity and innovation meant to improve the performance of someone or of the entire organization, the perseveration with enthusiasm for accomplishing the work tasks, the volunteering for assuming some new responsibilities and the encouragement for the others to do the same thing. All these behaviors have in common that fact that they go beyond the requirements of the job. Civism represents the interest towards the organization at a macro-level or commitment towards the organization as a whole. This is expressed by: the wish to actively participate to its administration (for instance, attending the meetings, expressing some opinions about the strategy that the company should follow, etc), the monitoring of the environment for identifying the threats and opportunities, following the interest of the organization, even with bigger personal costs. The personal development is the key-dimension of the organizational civic behavior. It includes voluntary behaviors of the employees directed towards the improvement of own knowledge, skills and abilities. The presence in an organization of the organizational civic behavior, identified as a variable that influences both the satisfaction and the results of the work, has a big importance, as the entire range of behaviors that accompany the compulsory behaviors specified in the job description, influence positively the psycho-social climate contributing by this at the good movement of the activity in any sector of work. The defining characteristics of this type of behavior are: > The behavior is voluntary – it is not included in the job description; > The behavior is spontaneous – it is not ordered or suggested by anyone; > The behavior contribute to the organizational efficiency – it is extended beyond the attitude towards the work colleagues; > It is unlikely to be remarked and rewarded by the system for assessing the performance especially due to the fact that it is not included in the job description; The determinants of the organizational civic behavior are: individual characteristics (employee’s personality, age, sex, professional training),the characteristics of the work task (its type, degree of structuring), the characteristics of the organization (the form of organization, the purpose of organization, the type of services offered, the dimension, organizational structure, the culture and the organizational climate, the communication networks, etc) and the leader’s characteristics (features of personality, qualities and competencies, style of leadership adopted, the professional experience, knowledge and level of training, his attitude towards responsibilities, values, beliefs, etc). The effects of the organizational civic behavior on organizations are: the increase of productivity of the members of work teams, the increase of productivity of the managers, the release of some resources that can be used for other productive purposes, the reduction of the need to allocate resources for the activities of maintain the group climate, the coordination of the activities of the members of the work teams and the teams among them, the improvement of the
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capacity of the organization for keeping the best employees, the increase of the stability of the organization’s performance, the increase of the capacity of the organization to efficiently adjust at the environmental changes. All these lead to the conclusion that adopting an organizational civic behavior by all the employees of an organization, it is influenced in a high degree by all the organizational variables (the individual characteristics of the employees, the characteristics of the work task, the characteristics of the organization, the leader’s characteristics) and, at its turn differently influence the phenomena that take place in an organization (the employees’ satisfaction, the individual performance and the performance of the entire organization, the working climate, the management of the organization, etc). Another fundamental concept in the domain of the organizational psychology which is in the headlines and which, by the effects that it produces in situated in individual or collective plan, which has an important role in the activity and efficiency of the working groups, is represented by the organizational climate. This is considered by the majority of the specialists a key-phenomenon in understanding the dynamic of the micro-groups due to the fact that at the level of the climate are found, in a syntactic form, the assembly of the subjective feelings of the members of the organization, generated in the context of the group life, but also due to the function that the climate has in the mechanism of internal adjustment of the organization. In the organizational psychology and in the managerial psychology there are more definitions of the climate. We consider to be representative the one given by Cristea (1984) which defines the organizational climate as being „a superior level of integrating the internal and external, objective and subjective factors that are determinant for the group and that generate a relative stabilized psychical disposition, generalized at the level of the members of the respective group". In the public institutions the organizational climate gains particular bonds; the existence of a positive climate depending on the understanding of the norms of the public institutions, the „reasoning" of the exigency, the need of the unit of action, the cohesion and solidarity, and last but not least, the manager’s style of administrating. In other words, the organizational climate is characterized by the nature of the relations among the individuals and organization and the relations between superiors and subordinates. These relations are conditioned by the organizational purposes and objectives, the formal structure and the management style, the managerial process and the behavior. The characteristics of the organizational climate are: • The synthetic character of the climate, in the regard that it represents a result of an assembly of internal and external, objective and subjective factors that act in a given situation and that are significant for the group in question; • The relative stability and independence based on the factors that generated it. A certain type of climate is not developed immediately after the triggering of some determinant factors, and it not easily modified, either, in case of insignificant variation or disappearance of short time of some of these factors. • the generalized character at the level of the respective group, even if the attitude of some of the group’s members based on some aspects that contribute at the generating of the climate may be different. The determinant factors of organizational climate are: -Physical-material – the physical and material conditions, the context of developing the activity, etc; -social – that regard the general social frames, the way and relations of production, the legal, political and cultural system, etc; -psycho-social – resulted from the interaction of the members of the group or between these and other individuals outside the group, with whom they get in contact in the context of the activity; -psychical – consisting in the psychical characteristics of the member of the group that define their personality. The action of these factors is most of the time real, but may be evoked as imminent. But in both cases, Cristea (2000) sustained, it is necessary that one or another from these real or invoked factors to get a certain significance for the group as a whole, so that it could influence in a way or another, the psycho-social climate; the same factor may influence or not the climate or may affect in different ways the profile of the group climate, based on the significance that the members of the respective group award to it. In the same time there must exist the relative stabilized circumstances based on which the psycho-social climate of the group may develop. As for the determinant factors of the group climate, the specialized literature has many definitions more or less ample but that have a common element for all the definitions presented: the climate is a resultant of all the factors that act on the working group and that determines the accomplishing of an active and responsible working collective. The conditions of making some active and responsible working collectives are: • individual conditions – a certain professional and moral homogeneity of the members of the group is a necessary condition; big differences in the level of professional training among the members of the collective generate difficulties in accomplishing an increased cohesion. The most important aspect is the degree of internalization of the general objectives by each member. The development of a collecting working environment cannot take place f there are differences from the
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point of view of work motivation. If some members of the collective „underwork", while the others work, the cohesion of the group is badly compromised, being triggered centrifugal forces, the preference for the individual work, nonparticipative attitudes. Finally, the most important is the attitude in the mutual relations. Respect,esteem for the colleagues, friendships represent the basic human condition of a proper collective. • organizational – a homogenous working collective, with positive orientation towards work can only be found within a rational, non-bureaucratic organization of work. The ability of leading the organization for formulating clear, rational purposes, acceptable for the group represents a decisive factor and the type of general management from the organization and especially of the group represents an essential factor. The remuneration and promotion system, if improperly made, may generate competition, conflicts, leading to demoralization and counterproductive behaviors. One of the most important organizational factors is the relation between the objectives of the organization and the general interests of the collectivity. • cultural – the collective work needs cultural premises: the existence of a culture of participation. By the culture of participation is understood the totality of knowledge and skills to act in a collective context, to establish cooperation relations with the others, the ability to formulate and sustain the point of view, to communicate with the others and make the consensus, after Zamfir et al. (1982) The dimensions of the organizational climate are: • the socio-affective dimension – reflects the degree of socio-affective integration of the members of the group, the degree in which the group as a system generates at its members the affective acceptance based on which it is developed the group cohesion; • the motivational-attitudinal dimension – includes the following categories of factors: interpersonal attitudes, the attitude towards the group and the activity developed by the members of the group, the degree of congruence of the interests and needs of the members of the group, the professional satisfaction; • the cognitive-axiological dimension – includes factors that reflect the following aspects: the interpersonal communication, the degree of interpersonal knowledge, the degree of convergence and compatibility of opinions, beliefs and conceptions of the members of the group, the degree of drawing and functioning of the norms of the group; • the instrumental-executive dimension – includes the factors that refer to the conditions and means of accomplishing the task of the group (the functional relations between the members of the group, the degree of coparticipation at the accomplishment of the task, the management style and the competence of the formal leader, the objective conditions in which the activity is developed, the external coordination of the group for fulfilling the task, the number of members based on the objective requirements of the task, intra/intergroup conflicts generated in the context of the activity of accomplishing the task); • the structural dimension – refers to the factors that reflect some aspects related to the structure and human composition of the group (the average age of the members of the group, the degree of homogeneity of the general training, the percentage between the number of men and women, social environment they come from, the social position of the members of the group and those close to them); • the projective-anticipative dimension – implies an assembly of factors that in ordinary conditions (of stability of the group) have a decreased weight in determining the group climate. Though, in the events that imply a certain incertitude regarding the possibility of accomplishing the task, the future conditions of the activity, or even the existence of the group, the weight of these factors increases considerably, determining in the plan of subjective feelings of the members of the group what generally is known as „moral of the group". These factors are: the perspective of the group and implicitly of its members; the existence or appearance of some statuses of incertitude, anxiety, tensional expectations, etc, the anticipation of the results that can be obtained by the group in a certain problematic context and the functional cohesiveness of the group. Starting from the importance that we consider that the two organizational variables have, namely the organizational civic behavior and the working climate, at the level of each organizations, much more in a public institution where the human factor represents the main resource, I initiated the present research on a number of 256 subjects, servants of two public institutions, local authorities in the sanitary domain (Institution 1) and fiscal (Institution 2), with structures and activities based on operational compartments, that perform the basic activities of the respective institution (they follow the implementation of the national programs at local level, the compliance of the legislation in the domain, analyze, control, sanction the state and private units that violate the sanitary/fiscal norms) and the functional compartments, that perform activities similar to the first (communication and informatics, human resources, the continuous training of the personnel, the statistic and assessment analysis of the activity of the institutions). The subjects are among the public servants employed in execution positions, class I and II (class I- higher education studies; class II – high school studies), all
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definitive servants (with more than 1 year seniority in the position), with ages between 26 and 58 years old in the first institution (average=38.03; standard deviation = 10.20) and between 28 and 62 years old in the second institution (average = 36,74; standard deviation = 12,76). At random the subjects were distributed in 4 groups, as it follows: - group I – public servants in operational compartments, 32 higher education studies, 32 high school studies- Institution 1; - group II - public servants in functional compartments, 32 higher education studies, 32 high school studies- Institution 1; -group III- public servants in operational compartments, 32 higher education studies 32 high school studiesInstitution 2; -group IV - public servants in functional compartments, 32 higher education studies, 32 high school studies - Institution 2; The questionnaires were individually distributed to the subjects, the training being made both verbally and in writing. The participants were asked to specify the personal identification data (surname, first name, age, schooling level, institution, the compartment in which they work). In the present study we suggested to cover the following objectives. 1. Identifying the level of the organizational civic behavior in the public institutions; 2. Identifying the relation between the organizational civic behavior and the performance in work of the employee; 3. Identifying the work satisfaction of the employees from the public institutions. In our approach we started from the following hypotheses. 1. It is presumed that there are significant differences in the level of organizational civic behavior manifested by the employees of the public institutions; 2. It is presumed that the employees that manifest a higher degree of the organizational civic behavior are considered to have better performance by their direct chiefs; 3. It is presumed that the level of the organizational civic behavior manifested by the public servants is directly influences by their satisfaction in work. For fulfilling the objectives of the research there were administrated the subjects that include the considered sample three instruments for measuring the organizational variables had in view, namely: the questionnaire of organizational civic behavior (CCO) formed of 28 items in order to measure the level of manifesting the CCO under all its seven forms; for the identification of the relation between the organizational civic behavior and the performance in work of the employees, initially it was administrated for the entire sample of public servants the measuring scale of the individual professional performance (SMPPI) of each employee; this scale includes 15 items and it is administrated to the public servants with managing positions who were asked top asses their subordinates. For identifying the satisfaction in work of the servants from the public institutions it was administrated to the entire sample of public servants the questionnaire „Satisfaction in work" instrument developed by Ticu (2004, p. 285), which contains 32 items that measure 4 factors: Remuneration and promotion, Management and interpersonal relations, Organization/communication and the factor General satisfaction. For verifying the validity of the hypotheses of researching it was proceeded at the statistic calculation of the differences between the grade point average of the subjects obtained at the applied questionnaires and at the accomplishing of the correlations between the scores obtained. The results of the study performed prove that the public manifest the organizational civic behavior at a level beyond average, 59,78%. Although the employees of the public organizations, the institutions of the states from the sanitary and fiscal domain, in our research, adopt behaviors of CCO type in a differentiated measure. Thus we obtained t=2,913 at a significance threshold p=0,001 in the regard that the employees from the fiscal institution manifest a CCO bigger than those from the sanitary institution. This fact is owed both to the individual differences of the employees and the other organizational variables that mark the working climate that at its turn influences the behaviors adopted by employees. The degree in which the personnel is satisfied with the work performed, by the working conditions, the working relations, salary, management, is reflected in the organizational civic behavior that they manifest.
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80 70 60 50 40 30 20
Institution 1
10
Institution 2
0
Figure 1. Comparative representation of the results obtained on each dimension of the organizational civic behavior in the two institutions.
The fact that the intensity of the positive working climate is higher in the institution from the fiscal domain prove that its employees have patterns of observing and understanding the life of the organization, although its restrictions are the same as in the institution from the sanitary domain, which mark the organizational climate: the organizational structure, the size, the profile of the activity, the nature of work, the personality of the human factor and especially of the leaders, the way of taking decisions and the management style practiced, the economic conditions and the efficiency degree, the trade union, the informational system and especially the communication between its components, organizational and management methods Table 1. The table of the correlations between the organizational civic behavior and the measuring scale of the individual professional performance in the public institutions Correlations
Correlations
CCO_I1
CCO_I1
SMPPI_I1
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I1 ,782** ,000
128 ,782**
CCO_I2
128 1
,000 128
CCO_I2
SMPPI_I2 128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I2 ,814** ,000
128 ,814**
128 1
,000 128
128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
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The high correlations between the level of manifesting the organizational civic behavior and the individual professional performance (Table no. 1) show that their level of satisfaction and the individual professional performance with which the employees are credited by their superior lead to a high CCO. The public servants with higher education studies from both institutions register the highest scores, which indicate a bigger capacity of mobilization of the psycho-physical resources of them, in the context of some problematic situations, based on the anticipated appreciation of the own forces and possibility to obtain the expected result. The servants with higher education studies have bigger performance, possess the ability to acquire and interpret a bigger volume of information, to select the essential aspects for the analyzed domain, to communicate, develop activities for fulfilling the work tasks without soliciting coordination. These subjects also perceive in a greater extent the clarity of the role, the freedom of self-expressing, an important individual contribution at fulfilling the purposes and objectives of the organization from which they take part, a less rigid management, and correctitude in the received acknowledgment, challenges at the working place. In order to perceive a positive climate, there are differences between the servants of the same institution but they are insignificant, due to the fact that a working climate means the assembly of the collective perceptions and the emotional feelings existent within the organization. It expresses the feelings generated by the confrontation between the expectations of the employees and the working and life conditions that the organization offers and consists in a collective psychological status, a generalized group phenomenon, objectivized in the internal human ambience of the organization. Having in view the factors of the organizational climate that influences the level of manifestation of CCO by the employees of the public organizations, they all have a significant contribution but the clarity of the task is really important, the working relations and the support perceived. It seems that a warm climate, based on mutual trust, clear tasks and efficient support are the most important elements so that the public servants to be engaged in behaviors of CCO type. Table 2 . The table of the correlations between the organizational civic behavior and the satisfaction at work in the public institutions. Correlations
Correlations
CCO_I1
CCO_I1
SMPPI_I1
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I1 ,822** ,000
128 ,822**
CCO_I2
128 1
,000 128
CCO_I2
SMPPI_I2 128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N Pearson Correlatio n Sig. (2tailed) N
1
SMPPI_I2 ,894** ,000
128 ,894**
128 1
,000 128
128
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
The public servants from the financial organization have a bigger level of satisfaction towards the job which induces a higher degree of the level of behaviors of CCO type. It is noticed that CCO is the result of the perception by the employee of the treatment that is applied as being proper, as well as of the correctitude of the practices and organizational policies that influence the satisfaction for work of the employee. Therefore, the different judgments related to the work colleagues, the management of the institution, the opportunities of promotion, the salary and work conditions are closely related to the appearance of CCO. The simple increase of the employees’ satisfaction, may not determine them to work more efficiently but represents a major factor which, together with the other organizational variables (management style, communication, group cohesion, etc.) and individual (personality features), contribute to the establishment of a positive work climate that forms, at its turn, a premise for manifesting the CCO. The results obtained after the statistic analysis performed confirmed work hypotheses and contributed to reaching the objectives of the research.
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2. Conclusions The present research highlighted that the public servants from the operational compartments of the public institutions, both those with higher education studies and those with high school studies adopt in a bigger extent behaviors of CCO type. This shows that these sectors of the public institutions, from a domain or another, in which the tasks and responsibilities are diversified, imply the contact with persons of different categories, either create proper conditions for the development of the personality of the employees, so that they acquire social competences necessary for the acquiring of the „art to live among persons" and behaviors as altruism, fair-play, scrupulosity, or „draw and maintain" servants with features of personality that allow the adopting of behaviors of CCO type. The acknowledgment of the merits, the individual professional performances of the employees is an important factor that contributes to the manifestation of the organizational civic behavior, significantly being correlated with the CCO dimensions, which proves the motivational potential that this acknowledgment has. The employees that manifest in a bigger extent the organizational civic behavior are more appreciated by superiors. It seems that although the CCO type behaviors are not expressly specified in the job description, which basically represents the basis of an assessment, their manifestation has a positive effect on the management factors from the organization, which reward those employees who adopt these behaviors, giving them better assessments of the performance, according to the principle of reciprocity. We consider that our paper represents a starting point for ulterior researches in order to fill the methodological gap regarding the study of CCO on the Romanian people, and in the same time to represent a warning for the managers of the public institutions. The restructuration and reorganizations that take place at the level of these institutions should start with the reevaluation of the concept regarding the management of human resources, namely focusing on people, the human personality, individuality, personal responsibilities, inter-appreciation. The focus should be on the capitalization of all the human potentialities, by a psychological approach on the human personality, but also from a psycho-social perspective that considers the individual an active member of the organization who interacts with the others in the working process. The public servants should not be considered simple products of the environment in which they develop their activity, but active, creative agents, who have the power and permission to change the environment, to produce it. From this perspective, the public servants, being the most important resources of the organization they belong to, should be fully valued by it, in the same time being psychologically protected and assisted. References Bateman, T.S., Organ, D.W., (1983), Job satisfaction and the good soldier, Academy of Management Journal, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 587-595, New York Cristea, D., (2000), Treaty of social psychology, Pro Transilvania Press, Bucuresti Marinescu, P., (2003), Management of public institutions, ASE Press, Bucuresti Tataru, F., (2003), The organizational civic behavior – between the personality factors and the satisfaction at work, in the Magazine of organizational psychology, vol. III, no. 3-4, pp. 48-64, Polirom Press, Iasi Tataru, F., Tataru, R., (2003), The syndrome of the good soldier: organizational civic behavior, in the Magazine of organizational psychology, vol. III, no. 1-2, pp. 55-67, Polirom Press, Iasi Ticu, C., (2004), The psychological assessment of personnel, Polirom Press, Iasi Vlasceanu, M., (2003), Organizations and organizational behavior, Polirom Press, Iasi Zamfir, C., Filipescu, I., (1982), Industrial sociology. Course and exercises for the seminar, Didactic and Pedagogical Press, Bucuresti Zlate, M., (2004), Leadership and management, Polirom Press, Iasi Zlate, M., (2004), Treaty of organizational-managerial psychology, vol. I, Polirom Press, Iasi